1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the real-time control of image acquisition hardware, and, more particularly to the user interface for the adjustment of the hardware.
2. Description of Related Art
Many electronic scientific instruments and systems do not have external control adjustments. Instead, control adjustments are performed by providing an interface connecting the instrument or system with a computer or other processing device, enabling control to be performed through interactions with a menu on a video display through a pointing device such as a mouse and/or a keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,377 is typical of such a system.
Some scientific instruments and systems do utilize external controls; however, like those described above, they still require an interface that maps the external controls to a menu driven video display and computer keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,941 is typical of this type of system.
The above-described interfaces function adequately, but are insufficient as an interface for the real-time control of image acquisition hardware such as reflected fluorescence microscopes, scanning monochromators, and the like. In image acquisition, the visual attention of the user is focused on the display of the images that are being acquired (e.g., in the lens of the microscope) and having to turn to a separate display of controls and control menus on a computer display is a significant distraction and slows down the process. In many experimental situations, time is of the essence as the experimental conditions degrade very quickly, and the need to turn attention away from the experiment to manipulate controls requires that the experiment be restarted.
Further, image acquisition hardware used in scientific measurements is frequently used in a dark environment; in such an environment, locating specific controlling keys on a computer keyboard is very difficult. Finally, when a video display is located adjacent to the image being acquired, the light from the video display illuminates the image and thus degrades the acquired image, much the way too much light in a photographic exposure can “wash out” a photograph.
Accordingly, there is needed a kinesthetic control interface for use with image acquisition devices that enables precise control, via kinesthetic controls that do not require visual attention, and therefore do not utilize a video display device emitting extraneous light towards the image being acquired.